Isabel Wilkerson: The Great Migration and the power of a single decision
Isabel Wilkerson: A Grande Migração e o poder de uma única decisão
The author of "The Warmth of Other Suns," the story of the Great Migration, Isabel Wilkerson is a Pulitzer-winning journalist who uses narrative history to bring to light our shared humanity. Full bio
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in nearly all of our families.
em quase todas nossas famílias.
tudo o que ele conhecia
that they had known.
a young person's endeavor.
um esforço feito por jovens.
when you're on the cusp of life.
quando ainda tem muito a viver.
somewhere in our background.
or the Pacific Ocean.
que irá cruzar rios e montanhas
that will cross rivers and mountains
will be freedom in the North.
encontrar liberdade ao norte.
their grandparents,
who had gotten them to this point.
cuidado dela até aquele ponto.
to make the crossing with them.
de realizar a travessia com ela.
of the people who had raised them,
das pessoas que os criaram,
de longa distância confiáveis.
telephone service.
did not even have telephones.
deixando pra trás não possuíam telefones.
about the people who had raised them
sobre aqueles que os tinham criado
dizendo: "Seu pai morreu"
"Your father has passed away."
if you are to see her alive again."
se quiser vê-la viva mais uma vez."
in nearly all of our families
em quase todas nossas famílias
that changed the course of families
o rumo de famílias,
que talvez a gente não perceba.
that we may not realize.
of six million African Americans
de 6 milhões de afro-americanos
until the 1970s.
Mundial até os anos 70.
was the first time in American history
vez na história dos Estados Unidos
que abandonar sua terra natal
had to flee the land of their birth
that they had always been.
que eles sempre haviam sido.
simplesmente um trânsito de pessoas.
of political asylum
uma busca por asilo político
known as Jim Crow.
de classes conhecido como Jim Crow.
podia ou não podia fazer
that you could and could not do
that it was actually against the law
que era contra a lei
together in Birmingham.
com uma pessoa de raça diferente da sua.
with a person of a different race.
a black person and a white person
uma pessoa negra e uma branca
na praça de alguma cidade.
in some town square.
and this white person playing checkers,
pessoa branca jogando damas,
do sul dos EUA estava em perigo.
of Southern civilization was in peril.
dedicar algum tempo
taking the time
havia uma Bíblia preta
there was actually a black Bible
jurava falar a verdade na corte.
no sul dos EUA, o Jim Crow.
por mãos de raças diferentes.
by hands of different races.
human desires to be free,
of violence to maintain.
de violência para ser mantido.
somewhere in the American South,
em algum lugar do sul dos EUA,
um afro-americano era linchado
an African American was lynched
nesse sistema de classes
in this caste system
o início da Grande Migração.
to the start of the Great Migration.
for many, many reasons.
em funcionamento por muitas razões.
the economic order of the South,
a ordem econômica do Sul,
a supply of cheap labor
de mão de obra barata,
de mão de obra para trabalhar na terra.
to work at the will of the land.
when the North had a labor problem.
teve um problema de mão de obra.
barata vinda da Europa,
on cheap labor from Europe --
and the steel mills.
nas fundições e nas siderúrgicas.
came to a virtual halt.
uma falta de mão de obra.
da solução mais barata internamente
and find the cheapest labor in the land
in the South,
sendo pagos por seu trabalho árduo.
for their hard work.
that they were farming.
em que estavam cultivando.
recebiam nenhum pagamento.
and not even being paid.
essa ameaça à mão de obra da região.
to this poaching of its cheap labor.
to keep the people from leaving.
para impedir as pessoas de partir.
nas estações de trem.
from the railroad platforms.
norte-americanos reconhecidamente livres.
American citizens.
from their train seats.
people to arrest,
to get to freedom
"Como iremos sair agora?"
How now will we get out?
out of the South,
um caminho para longe do Sul,
perfeitamente previsíveis
beautifully predictable streams
throughout human history.
de migração da história da humanidade.
there were three streams.
havia três caminhos.
do Sul e do Norte e Virgínia
the Carolinas and Virginia
ainda mais ao norte pela Costa Leste.
and on up the East coast.
from Mississippi, Alabama,
Cleveland e arredores.
to Cleveland and the entire Midwest.
from Louisiana and Texas
mas muito longe mesmo,
wanted to get away,
dentro do território dos Estados Unidos
within the borders of the United States
were living in the South.
this Great Migration was over,
espalhada pelo resto do país.
all over the rest of the country.
nearly a complete redistribution
uma espécie de redistribuição
in American history
vez na história norte-americana
e estavam dispostas a tomá-las.
and were willing to take them.
in the three centuries
nos três séculos anteriores
já estavam naquela terra.
had been on that soil at that time.
in 12 generations of enslavement
em 12 gerações de escravatura
quase um século de Jim Crow.
nearly a century of Jim Crow.
à palavra "avó" ou "avô"
to the word "grandparent"
a escravidão nos Estados Unidos?
enslavement lasted in the United States?
was the first time in American history
a primeira vez na história norte-americana
to choose for themselves
escolhas por conta própria,
with their God-given talents
com os talentos que tinham
what they and their children
que eles, seus filhos
and even great-grandchildren
de escolher por si próprios
to choose for themselves
with their God-given talents.
como a conhecemos hoje.
a Toni Morrison as we now know her to be.
and from Georgia.
do Alabama e da Geórgia.
would get to do something
at this point,
para os afro-americanos
and against protocol for African Americans
growing up in the South,
decisão de deixar o Sul,
the single decision to leave,
da filha de ter acesso aos livros.
would get access to books.
a Nobel laureate,
by the Great Migration.
foi remodelada pela Grande Migração.
they brought with them,
traziam com eles,
the ancestors --
e a música gospel
and the gospel music
através de gerações.
through the generations.
into whole new genres of music.
em estilos de música completamente novos.
pelo mundo inteiro.
"Motown" would not have existed.
"Motown" não teria existido.
his parents were from Georgia.
Berry Gordy, eram da Geórgia.
he decided he wanted to go into music.
que queria entrar no mundo da música.
para viajar o país inteiro
to go all over the country
of the Great Migration
também a música na bagagem.
with them during the journey.
were these three girls,
had there been no Great Migration.
se a Grande Migração não tivesse ocorrido.
e outros tantas pessoas em geral,
and a lot of human beings in general,
nunca teriam se conhecido.
because her parents might not have met.
tiveram ela e seus irmãos,
of the Great Migration.
of the Great Migration.
who was born in Louisiana
que nasceu na Louisiana
Central Railroad to Chicago,
pela Illinois Central Railroad,
to build on the talent
de desenvolver os talentos
to build on the talents
nas plantações de algodão do Arkansas.
in the cotton country of Arkansas.
contato com um saxofone.
he got his first alto sax.
who cannot imagine a world
que não conseguem imaginar o mundo
having gotten a hold of a saxophone.
of the millions of people
da única decisão de migrar.
of the single decision to migrate.
resistência no norte.
resistance in the North.
all social injustice.
todas as injustiças sociais.
do movimento pelos direitos civis.
of the civil rights movement.
que eles foram forçados a abandonar.
that they had been forced to flee.
o que um presidente dos EUA,
of the United States,
de Emancipação não pôde.
Proclamation could not do.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Isabel Wilkerson - Journalist, authorThe author of "The Warmth of Other Suns," the story of the Great Migration, Isabel Wilkerson is a Pulitzer-winning journalist who uses narrative history to bring to light our shared humanity.
Why you should listen
Pulitzer Prize winner Isabel Wilkerson devoted 15 years to the research and writing of The Warmth of Other Suns. She interviewed more than 1,200 people, unearthed archival works and gathered the voices of the famous and the unknown to tell the epic story of the Great Migration, one of the biggest underreported stories of the 20th century and one of the largest migrations in American history.
The book was named to more than 30 Best of the Year lists, won the National Book Critics Circle Award, among other honors, and made national news when President Obama chose it for summer reading in 2011. In 2012, the New York Times named The Warmth of Other Suns to its list of the best nonfiction books of all time.
Wilkerson won the Pulitzer Prize for her work as Chicago Bureau Chief of the New York Times, making her the first black woman in the history of American journalism to win a Pulitzer and the first African-American to win for individual reporting.
Isabel Wilkerson | Speaker | TED.com